This morning, as I drove to work, I was listening to Pod Save America, and they asked a most interesting question: if the FBI started an investigation of Trump as a Russian asset, did they tell Congress? They explored this question some, but not enough to my opinion.
The PSA hosts pointed out that the FBI isn’t a coequal branch of government, and that means they had an obligation to inform Congress of their actions. No matter the answer, we have a problem.
They didn’t tell Congress — Not informing Congress leads credence to the conservative notion that the FBI has a vendetta against Trump, that they were acting independently outside their mandate. For an adult, who recognizes that Trump met with Russian folks, including a spy, in the Oval Office, kept it secret, and gave those folks highly classified information, well, such an adult would recognize that this would scare the bejeezus out of any loyal America and they might be willing to forgive the FBI. Add in Trump’s desire to hide all meetings with Putin, and his taking all the notes and… hiding them, and you get a whole lot of worry. That still doesn’t mean they don’t get to tell Congress. If that is the case, the investigation is in jeopardy. If you believe they didn’t tell Congress… hmm.
They did tell Congress — If Congress was told, you have an even bigger problem. I remind you that Congress, both sides, have run continual interference for Trump for two years. Nunes didn’t just run interference, he actively informed and plotted with the White House to manipulate the situation surrounding the Russian investigation. He isn’t the only one. Think about the memos, and the actions taken. That means that Congress didn’t just turn a blind eye to the public information, but that they knew the FBI felt there was credible information and had started an investigation, and they ran interference for Trump. To my mind, that makes them co-conspirators and co-equal in the obstruction of justice. If you know that there is an active investigation going on, and you hide information and take action to hurt the investigation, you're culpable. It’s beginning to look a lot like we don’t just have a president problem, we have a GOP problem.